Garden Notes Lupines

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The most common lupine to gardeners is the Russell Hybrids. these come in a wide variety of colours and colour combinations. They are a wonderful addition to anyones garden, even if they do tend towards being short lived.

Lupines require a soil on the acidic side. It should be well drained but moist. They prefer a sandy soil.

They like sun to partial shade, and because of the shortness of the bloom season should be positioned to the back or middle of the perennial border. They bloom in late spring to mid summer.

The palmate foliage is very decorative on it's own, as a 2ft clump. The flower stalks rise to 5 feet, with pea like blooms in colours such as red, yellow, blue, pink and cream, and bicoloured combinations.

If the flowers stalks become deformed it may have been the work of lupine aphids, and quick control prior, upon finding the aphids, can prevent this.

Lupines grow in zones 4 to 7. They prefer a cool summer to a hot one, mulch the soil in summer and they will reward you with excellent flowering.

Propagate by seeds sown in the spring or summer. Soak the seed for 24hrs prior to planting, I use chamomile tea to soak them in. They should be seeded where they are to grow, because of the taproot that resents transplanting. Thin to 12 to 18" apart. They will self seed.

They are short lived, and after 3 or 4 years start to decline in both leaf and flower growth. Often the center dies out and the plant weakens. For this reason it is good to seed frequently to continue with a good showing of flowers.

I have several stands of Lupines in my garden and try to keep re seeding to keep them coming. The seeds are easy to save, just wait for the pea-like pods to dry on the stalk and pick. Because they are hybrids however, they will not come true. Their beautiful flowers outway the short bloom season for me, and I will always have lupines in my garden. I found that they grew well for me when I lived up north, the cooler summers provided them with the climate that they preferred.